LENS DOCKING STATION
A lens docking station used for detachably connecting to an electronic device is disclosed, wherein the electronic device includes a first lens module and a first transmission interface. The lens docking station includes a chute, a second lens module, and a second transmission interface. The chute is located next to the first lens module. The second lens module can slide along the chute to a position corresponding to the first lens module. The second transmission interface is used for communicating to the first transmission interface, and for electrically connecting to the second lens module, allowing the electronic device to control the second lens module to capture an image, and obtain the image; whereby the two images captured by the first lens module and the second lens module can be integrated to form a three-dimensional image.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lens docking station; more particularly, the present invention relates to a lens docking station for capturing a three-dimensional image.
2. Description of the Related Art
As technology develops, many portable electronic devices (such as a mobile phone, a camera, or a walkman) are designed to be thin and light, and include various functions to meet the customers' requirements. For example, as shown in
According to the three-dimensional imaging principle, the three-dimensional image is formed from two images of two different perspectives of a same scene, and the two positions of the two images must be on a same horizontal line. For example, as shown in
Furthermore, because the mobile phone 100 shown in
Furthermore, only a few companies produce and sell the abovementioned mobile phone with the stereoscopic lens module 110; the this kind of mobile phone is more expensive than the common mobile phone with the common lens module; opportunities to capture three-dimensional images are not as numerous as those to capture normal images. Therefore, for the user who already has a mobile phone with a common lens module, or the user with brand loyalty who only uses mobile phones of a specific brand, it is not the best choice to purchase the mobile phone with the stereoscopic lens module.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a new device which can be applied to a mobile phone with a single lens module, allowing the mobile phone with a single lens module to be able to capture the transverse and vertical three-dimensional image, and allowing the mobile phone to keep its original thickness and weight.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is an object of the present invention to provide a lens docking station for capturing a three-dimensional image. The lens docking station is used for detachably connecting to an electronic device, allowing the electronic device to be able to capture three-dimensional images.
To achieve the abovementioned object, in one embodiment of the present invention, the lens docking station of the present invention is used for detachably connecting to an electronic device; the electronic device includes a first lens module and a first transmission interface. The lens docking station includes a chute, a second lens module, and a second transmission interface. The chute is located next to the first lens module. The second lens module can slide along the chute to a position corresponding to the first lens module. The second transmission interface is used for communicating with the first transmission interface and for electrically connecting to the second lens module, allowing the electronic device to control the second lens module to capture an image and obtain the image; whereby the two images captured by the first lens module and the second lens module can be integrated to form a three-dimensional image.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the lens docking station further includes a hole; the position of the hole is corresponding to the position of the first lens module of the electronic device, allowing the first lens module to be exposed to the hole.
Furthermore, in another embodiment of the present invention, the lens docking station of the present invention is used for detachably connecting to an electronic device; the electronic device includes a first transmission interface. The lens docking station of the present invention includes a chute, a first lens module, a second lens module, and a second transmission interface. The chute is located next to the first lens module. The second lens module can slide along the chute to a position corresponding to the first lens module. The second transmission interface is used for communicating to the first transmission interface, and for electrically connecting to the second lens module, allowing the electronic device to control the first lens module and the second lens module to respectively capture an image, and obtain the images; whereby the two images captured by the first lens module and the second lens module can be integrated to form a three-dimensional image.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the first transmission interface and the second transmission interface are respectively an entity connector or a wireless transmission module.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the lens docking station further includes a battery module for providing power to the lens docking station or for providing standby power to the electronic device via the entity connectors of the first transmission interface and the second transmission interface.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the accompanying drawings, which disclose several embodiments of the present invention. It is to be understood that the drawings are to be used for purposes of illustration only, and not as a definition of the invention.
Please refer to
In the first embodiment of the present invention, the lens docking station of the present invention is detachably connected to an electronic device with a single lens module. As shown in
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The lens docking station 10 of the present invention can also comprise a battery module 16 for providing power to the second transmission interface 15 and the second lens module 12 when the second transmission interface 15 is the wireless transmission module and cannot obtain power from the electronic device 90. However, if the second transmission interface 15 is the entity connector, the lens docking station 10 can also comprise a battery module 16 for providing standby power to the electronic device 90 when connected to the electronic device 90.
Please refer to
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In the present embodiment, when the first transmission interface 93 of the electronic device 90 is connected to the second transmission interface 15 of the lens docking station 10, the operating system 971 will detect the connecting of the first transmission interface 93 and the second transmission interface 15; via the connecting of the first transmission interface 93 and the second transmission interface 15, the operating system 971 will also detect the second lens module 12. Therefore, the user can operate the application 973 to issue an order to capture a three-dimensional image, allowing the application 973 to deliver the order to capture the three-dimensional image to the driver 972. After the driver 972 receives the order, the driver 972 will control the first lens module 91 to capture an image and deliver the image to the storage device 97, and the driver 972 will control the second lens module 12 to capture another image via the connecting of the first transmission interface 93 and the second transmission interface 15. After the second lens module 12 captures the image, the image will be delivered to the storage device 97 via the connection of the first transmission interface 93 and the second transmission interface 15. After the storage device 97 receives the images captured by the first lens module 91 and the second lens module 12, the central processing unit 96 and the application 973 will integrate the two images to form a three-dimensional image and store the three-dimensional image. The display module 95 can represent the three-dimensional image to the user. However, the process of forming the three-dimensional image of the present invention is not limited to that design.
In one embodiment of the present invention, via the lens docking station 10 of the present invention, the electronic device 90 can capture not only a vertical three-dimensional image but also a transverse three-dimensional image.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the first lens module 91 and the second lens module 12 both comprise image sensors 911, 121 of types such as a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) or a charge-coupled device (CCD). The image sensors 911, 121 are used for transforming the received light into digital signals. The image sensors 911, 121 are usually designed as a transverse rectangle shape for capturing a transverse image which fits the feature of human binocular vision that the width is greater than the height. As shown in
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In the present embodiment, when the first transmission interface 93 of the electronic device 90a is connected to the second transmission interface 15 of the lens docking station 10b, the operating system 971 will detect the connecting of the first transmission interface 93 and the second transmission interface 15; via the connecting of the first transmission interface 93 and the second transmission interface 15, the operating system 971 can detect the first lens module 17 and the second lens module 12. Therefore, via operating the application 973 of the electronic device 90a, the user can issue the order to capture the image to the driver 972; via the connecting of the first transmission interface 93 and the second transmission interface 15, the driver 972 can drive the second lens module 12 and the first lens module 17 of the lens docking station 10b to respectively capture individual images. The images captured by the second lens module 12 and the first lens module 17 are delivered to the electronic device 90a via the second transmission interface 15, allowing the application 973 and the central processing unit 96 of the electronic device 90a to process the images captured by the second lens module 12 and the first lens module 17 and integrate the images to form a three-dimensional image.
It is to be noted that the lens docking station 10b of the third embodiment of the present invention not only can be applied to the electronic device 90a without the lens module, allowing the electronic device 90a to be able to capture the image and the three-dimensional image, but also can be applied to the electronic device 90 with the lens module, such that the electronic device 90 can capture the three-dimensional image via the first lens module 17 and the second lens module 12 without using the original lens module.
In conclusion regarding the invention, the lens docking station 10 of the present invention can achieve the following efficacy: (1) when the user wants to capture a three-dimensional image, the user does not need to additionally buy an electronic device 90 with a stereoscopic lens module 110 (such as a mobile phone with a stereoscopic lens module); the user just needs to apply the lens docking station 10 of the present invention to the electronic device 90, allowing the electronic device 90 to be able to capture the three-dimensional image; (2) via the structure design of the present invention, the user can choose to capture a transverse or a vertical three-dimensional image by pushing the second lens module 12 to the appropriate position in the chute 13, and by changing the direction of holding the mobile phone; (3) via the external module design of the present invention, neither the structure nor the hardware design of the electronic device 90 needs to be changed; therefore, the electronic device 90 can still keep the original shape and weight, to achieve the effect of saving the design cost.
It is noted that the above-mentioned embodiments are only for illustration. It is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents. Therefore, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.
Claims
1. A lens docking station, used for detachably connecting to an electronic device, wherein the electronic device comprises a first lens module and a first transmission interface, the lens docking station comprising:
- a chute located next to the first lens module of the electronic device;
- a second lens module being able to slide along the chute to a position corresponding to the first lens module; and
- a second transmission interface used for communicating with the first transmission interface of the electronic device, and electrically connecting to the second lens module, allowing the electronic device to control the second lens module to capture an image, and obtain the image, whereby the two images captured by the first lens module and the second lens module can be integrated to form a three-dimensional image.
2. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second lens module can slide to a first position or a second position in the chute;
- when the second lens module slides to the first position, the second lens module and the first lens module of the electronic device are on a same horizontal line and arranged at a certain spacing; when the second lens module slides to the second position, the second lens module and the first lens module of the electronic device are on a same vertical line and arranged at a certain spacing.
3. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second lens module can slide to a first position or a second position in the chute;
- when the second lens module slides to the first position, the second lens module and the first lens module of the electronic device are on a same vertical line and arranged at a certain spacing; when the second lens module slides to the second position, the second lens module and the first lens module of the electronic device are on a same horizontal line and arranged at a certain spacing.
4. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 2, wherein when the first lens module and the second lens module are arranged at the certain spacing on the same horizontal line, the two images will be integrated to form a transverse three-dimensional image.
5. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 3, wherein when the first lens module and the second lens module are arranged at the certain spacing on the same horizontal line, the two images will be integrated to form a transverse three-dimensional image.
6. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 2, wherein when the first lens module and the second lens module are arranged at the certain spacing on the same vertical line, the two images will be integrated to form a vertical three-dimensional image.
7. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 3, wherein when the first lens module and the second lens module are arranged at the certain spacing on the same vertical line, the two images will be integrated to form a vertical three-dimensional image.
8. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a hole; a position of the hole is corresponding to a position of the first lens module, allowing the first lens module to be exposed to the hole.
9. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first transmission interface and the second transmission interface are respectively an entity connector.
10. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first transmission interface and the second transmission interface are respectively a wireless transmission module.
11. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 9, wherein the lens docking station further comprises a battery module for providing standby power to the electronic device via the entity connectors of the first transmission interface and the second transmission interface.
12. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 10, wherein the lens docking station further comprises a battery module for providing power to the wireless transmission module and the second lens module.
13. A lens docking station, used for detachably connecting to an electronic device; the electronic device comprises a first transmission interface, the lens docking station comprising:
- a first lens module;
- a chute located next to the first lens module of the electronic device;
- a second lens module being able to slide along the chute to a position corresponding to the first lens module; and
- a second transmission interface used for communicating to the first transmission interface of the electronic device, and electrically connecting to the first lens module and the second lens module, allowing the electronic device to control the first lens module and the second lens module to respectively capture individual images, and
- obtain the images, whereby the two images captured by the first lens module and the second lens module can be integrated to form a three-dimensional image.
14. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 13, wherein the second lens module can slide to a first position or a second position in the chute;
- when the second lens module slides to the first position, the second lens module and the first lens module of the electronic device are on a same horizontal line and arranged at a certain spacing; when the second lens module slides to the second position, the second lens module and the first lens module of the electronic device are on a same vertical line and arranged at a certain spacing.
15. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 13, wherein the second lens module can slide to a first position or a second position in the chute;
- when the second lens module slide to the first position, the second lens module and the first lens module of the electronic device are on a same vertical line and arranged at a certain spacing; when the second lens module slide to the second position, the second lens module and the first lens module of the electronic device are on a same horizontal line and arranged at a certain spacing.
16. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 14, wherein when the first lens module and the second lens module are arranged at the certain spacing on the same horizontal line, the two images will be integrated to form a transverse three-dimensional image.
17. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 15, wherein when the first lens module and the second lens module are arranged at the certain spacing on the same horizontal line, the two images will be integrated to form a transverse three-dimensional image.
18. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 14, wherein when the first lens module and the second lens module are arranged at the certain spacing on the same vertical line, the two images will be integrated to form a vertical three-dimensional image.
19. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 15, wherein when the first lens module and the second lens module are arranged at the certain spacing on the same vertical line, the two images will be integrated to form a vertical three-dimensional image.
20. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 13, wherein the first transmission interface and the second transmission interface are respectively an entity connector.
21. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 13, wherein the first transmission interface and the second transmission interface are respectively a wireless transmission module.
22. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 20, wherein the lens docking station further comprises a battery module for providing standby power to the electronic device via the entity connectors of the first transmission interface and the second transmission interface.
23. The lens docking station as claimed in claim 21, wherein the lens docking station further comprises a battery module for providing power to the wireless transmission module, the first lens module, and the second lens module.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 6, 2012
Publication Date: Oct 24, 2013
Patent Grant number: 9158087
Inventors: Hsin-Shuay CHEN (Taipei City), Yu-Teng Chang (Taipei City), Ming-Te Lee (Taipei City), Yao-Wei Wang (Taipei City)
Application Number: 13/605,911
International Classification: H04N 13/02 (20060101);